earn from Swami.

Many prize-winning students look forward to getting prostration at Swamis feet (padanamaskar) when they receive prizes from Swami. Yesterday, I allowed all students to offer padanamaskar because they were willing to forgo receiving the prizes. It is their spirit of sacrifice that has enabled them to get this benediction from Bhagavan. From self-confidence to self-realization A spiritual edifice is built on the foundation of self-confidence. The walls are made up of self-satisfaction. Self-sacrifice is the roof. Self-Realization is fulfillment in life. Students! Fill your minds and hearts with these sacred spiritual truths and go out into the world to spread the spiritual message in every street and every alley. The world today is in utter confusion. Unrest and fear stalk the world. To eliminate this disorder and fear, you have to instill devotion among the people. Today, the world lacks righteousness and spirituality. People are immersed in materialism and worldliness. They are after power and pelf. This is utterly wrong. Money comes and goes. Morality comes and grows. You may carry on your vocational duties. But along with it, render social service. See the divine in the people whom you serve. Even an agnostic occasionally invokes the name of God. For instance, on one occasion, Jawaharlal Nehru was visiting the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai. During the worship of the Goddess, Nehru noticed a large emerald adorning the idol. He asked about the value of the emerald. He was interested in the value of the gem. But the devotees in the sanctum were meditating on the divine form of the Goddess. They were concerned about Divinity. Nehru looked at the idol from a worldly point of view. When he was informed that the ornament was worth several lakhs, spontaneously he exclaimed: "My God!" What Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 31 16 made him think of God? Because God is in everyone. When expressing surprise at something one exclaims: "Oh! My God!" In this manner, people give expression to the Divinity within them unconsciously. A lesson to the Pandavas Doubts about God may sometimes arise even among staunch believers. This may be illustrated from an incident in the Mahabharata. Once, while the Pandavas were in exile in the forest, Krishna visited them. Krishna was told that the five brothers took turns during the night to keep a vigil over the activities of evil spirits and demons. One night, an evil spirit appeared before the Pandava brothers, and they had great difficulty in fighting it. In view of this, Dharmaja, the eldest of the

Pandavas, tried to dissuade Krishna from participating in sentry duty. Krishna, however, insisted on taking his share. During that period no evil spirit appeared. Then came Arjunas turn, and Krishna watched the scene from a distance. To Arjunas surprise, no evil spirit appeared while Krishna was there. Krishna then explained to Arjuna that evil spirits were only a reflection of ones hatred and fear, and when one is free from these, no evil spirit would appear or do any harm. Krishna revealed that the Divine existed even in so-called evil spirits and that if a person gets rid of the evil qualities within him, the evil spirits can do no harm. Ones anger assumes the form of a demon. If you develop love, everything you confront will have the form of love. This was the lesson Krishna taught the Pandavas. Students should eschew bad qualities like anger, hatred, and envy. By manifesting love, they will enjoy bliss. Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 31 17 "Follow your dharma" The essential message of the Gita is: Follow your dharma. Do your duty without expectation of its fruits. If you are a householder, perform your duties as a householder. Whatever your stage in life, act according to the duties appropriate to that stage. If everyone does his duty, there is nothing greater in life. But there is one duty that is common to all stages: the duty dictated by the heart (hridaya-dharma). Fill your hearts with love. Through this you can accomplish anything. Start the day with Love, Fill the day with Love, End the day with Love this is the way to God. I am presenting a silver cup to each campus of the Institute. Accept it as my love offering to every student individually. Everyone should develop a sense of oneness with all. The world today suffers from divisiveness. Students should go out into the world and promote the sense of human unity. That will be the offering you can make to Me. You are all my property. And I am yours. Let us share each others love. That is the true path of devotion. Ritualistic worship is not the true mark of devotion. The essence of devotion is the feeling of identification with God. During the recent Unity Cup Cricket Match, a cricketer of repute observed, I dont do any work on my own. Whatever I do, I regard as Swamis work. Because I did Swamis work, my work was taken care of by Swami. I did not attend to my work. After coming here, I received a telegram to the effect: Your task has been accomplished successfully. He then announced that, while I attended to Swamis work, Swami carried out my work.

Likewise, if you do Swamis work, your work will be taken care of by Me. Dedicate every action to the Divine. The response will be equally divine. This has been described as diSathya Sai Speaks, Volume 31 18 vine vibration. That vibration will sustain and support your life. Take up social service in the villages after you go back to your homes. That is the way to make use of your studies and put Swamis teachings into practice. Instill in the villages devotion to God. Practise what you preach. This is true service. 14 January 1998 Sai Kulwant Hall, Prasanthi Nilayam A mirror, though clean, may not reflect your image if there is no mercury coating behind it. So also the heart may be pure, but there should be a coating of love behind it to facilitate reflection of God. Baba

3 Buddhas gospel of good life

Embodiments of Divine Love! Man today is acquiring various types of knowledge. Among these he is learning how to live and act like lions and other animals. What is the meaning of knowledge (jnana)? It is not mere acquaintance with numerous books. Even the acquisition of information about all the objects in the animate and inanimate is not knowledge. True knowledge is awareness of the relationship between the individual and collective (samashti) and their oneness. Men today do not recognize the nature their humanness. How can they recognize their inherent divinity? It is only when man is aware of his humanness that he will be competent to recognize his divinity. How then, is man to reach humanness? What is the means? Buddha undertook various inquiries to discover the Divine and came to the conclusion Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 31 20 that it is only through mastery over his senses he can achieve this. Man has to make the right use of his senses for sacred purposes to realize his divinity. Samyag darsanam Hence, Buddha declared that the first requisite is samyagdarsanam (Having the right vision). The implication of this statement is that, having been bestowed with the great gift of eyes, man should use them for seeing sacred objects and holy beings. But, on the contrary, by using his eyes to look at unsacred

objects and evil persons, man fills himself with bad thoughts and becomes a prey to evil tendencies. What one sees influences the feelings in the heart. The state of the heart determines the nature of ones thoughts. The thoughts influence one's life. Hence to lead a good life the first requisite is a pure vision. Man has to cultivate sacred outlook. As a result of looking at cruel, ugly, and wicked scenes man leads an animal existence. The very first inquiry one should make is to ascertain what is pure, edifying, and godly that he should see. Whatever he sees leaves its imprint on man. Few realize the effects of this. Human life today is racked by anxiety, misery, unrest and troubles of various kinds. The root cause of all this is that man is witnessing what is repulsive, wicked and demeaning. For transforming one's life, the first requisite is a proper vision. The eye (netra) is comparable to a spiritual text (sastra) and one's vision (drishti) determines one's views of the cosmos (srishti). Hence to acquire the highest knowledge one has to purify the vision. This means one should avoid seeing what is obnoxious. One should strive to see only that which is sacred and pure. What man sees is like seeds sown in the heart. Evil scenes give rise to evil thoughts. Good scenes evoke good thoughts. When sacred scenes are implanted in the heart there